


We're on Our Own

by defenderofjustice707



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: AU - Assassins, Assassin!Levi, Human Experimentation, Let's play guess the time period, M/M, Slow Build, Very very descriptive violence and gore, ereri
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-12-30
Updated: 2014-01-19
Packaged: 2018-01-06 19:40:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,400
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1110748
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/defenderofjustice707/pseuds/defenderofjustice707
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Eren's village is burned down, he's left alone, traumatized and filthy. An assassin named Levi wandered by and decided to take Eren under his wing, but he didn't do it out of the pureness of his heart. What secrets lie within Eren's blood?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Well, It Started Out Okay

**Author's Note:**

> I've been pretty excited to write this, so I hope you enjoy it. I thought of this after thinking about some book I read (I don't remember the title) and I was like, "Hey, what if I base a fanfic off this?" and here I am. If you know what book I mean (you probably don't, it's very loosely based) please tell me so I can put it in the tags.
> 
> Please, please read the tags.

For Eren Jeager, the day started out just fine.

He walked through town without Mikasa or Armin that day, specifically because he wanted to be alone. He hadn't been outside alone in ages, and now there was no one telling him not to do things.

Eren wasn't stupid, so he didn't do things like climbing on someone's roof because their apple tree had unpicked apples he could eat or running into someone's garden and stealing carrots or killing someone's pig, because he was polite.

He and Mikasa, his adopted sister, lived with his parents, Grisha and Carla. They were the exact opposite of rich, with Eren's father doing illegal medical work for a living. Carla herself was too sick to work. Of course, Eren and Mikasa had to help make money as well. Tending to the neighbor's cow (and definitely _not_ stealing milk), harvesting Hannes' crops (no missing potatoes at all), and sometimes cleaning people's houses (and no jewelry _ever_ went missing).

The town was peaceful, the air was clean and fresh, and Eren only stepped in horse shit once. That was pretty good.

"Jeager!" called Jean. He was leaning on a shovel. _Speaking of horse shit._

"Picking up shit again, Jean?" asked Eren, walking up beside him and observing the pile of shit next to the shovel. Jean just shrugged.

"Makes money. These rich bastards will pay you to do anything."

"They aren't rich." said Eren, looking down.

"They're rich to me, and I know they're rich to you." Jean made a face. "They can afford to hire someone to clean up shit when they can take an hour out of their day to do it themselves for free. If that's not rich, I don't know what is."

"You're being very mellow today." said Eren with a bit of surprise.

"Hmm," Jean tilted his head. "I wonder why?"

"Normally, you're such an asshole." said Eren. "You would have yelled at me for asking you if you're picking up shit. Who are you working for?"

"Some guy with freckles." Jean shrugged, but a blush rose on his cheeks. Eren's eyebrows rose, but he said nothing.

"I'm leaving." said Eren, turning and walking away. "See you later, horse-face."

"How about you shut the fuck up," shouted Jean as Eren left. Eren smirked.

Eren caught something in the corner of his eye and glanced in that direction, but nothing was there. Eren dismissed it as his imagination and left it at that.

He shouldn't have.

He saw the first arrow fly. It was on fire. He vaguely remembered screaming as it landed on a roof and caught the house on fire. Panic flared inside Eren and he started running toward his house.

The arrows were flying everywhere. The whole village was ablaze. Eren narrowly avoided getting shot through the head with one, hissing as it grazed his skin. It stung. It _stung_.

Eren started coughing. The air was certainly not clear anymore. Everyone was running, screaming. His boots were soaked with blood, sloshing as he walked. He caught a glimpse of Jean and Armin running to safety. At least they were safe.

Unrecognizable men with swords rode throuh the city on white horses painted red with blood, letting out battle cries. Eren avoided getting trampled to death several times. Bodies were falling left and right, and he _couldn't find his fucking house._ He stopped and threw up, wiping his mouth ang grimacing at the taste before moving on.

Finally, he reached his house. It was completely destroyed. Eren dropped to the ground, a blood-curdling scream ripping from his throat. He pulled at the burnt logs, not feeling any pain as the ashes burned his skin. He smelled hair burning. As he pulled at his ruined home, a body came into view.

"Mom!" he screamed, his throat raw. He dug around her frantically, desperately, trying to free her. She coughed.

"Eren," she whispered. She had burns all over, and patches of missing hair. Eren was horrified.

"I'll get you out." Eren promised, and returned to pulling at the pieces of wood. The arrows were still flying. Smoke was filling the air, making it hard to breathe. Eren choked and coughed violently into his dirty sleeve. He looked up, and his mother was still.

"Mom..." Eren sputtered, tears leaking out of his eyes, leaving tracks in the black ash on his face.

"Go," she said weakly, obviously struggling to breathe. "Mikasa and Grisha are... safe." she took a large, shuttering breath, and was still. Eren, still sobbing, shook his head.

"No!" he yelled. Or, tried to yell. His throat was so raw from screaming and the air was so filled with smoke that all he could manage was a weak cough. Still unbelieving, he stood up shakily. It took some effort, but he did it. And then he fell.

Determined not to give up, he dragged himself out of the village slowly. The flaming arrows had stopped and the men had left, but the fire hadn't. It had spread from the houses to the ground and was now slowly making it's way toward him.

Somehow, Eren managed to get out of range of the fire. He leaned against a tree, breathing hard, sobs racking his body. He couldn't move. All he could do was sit there and watch as his home and his village was destroyed. His various burns ached, and he was pretty sure the ones on his hands would get infected soon if he didn't wash them. But he was so... sore. 

"Hmm?" a voice hummed disapprovingly above him. "What's this?"


	2. And I Guess It Ended Well? Kind of?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Eren joins Levi

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for the comments and kudos! They're much appreciated!
> 
> If there are any confusing view shifts, please forgive me.

Levi, who had just happened to be strolling by when this town burned down, was disgusted by what he saw in front of him.

The boy - eighteen years old, by the looks of it - was filthy. Absolutely filthy. His face was smudged save for tear tracks and he was covered in burns that were sure to get infected. The boy stared up at him dumbly.

"Who-" he croaked, but his voice cracked and he went into a coughing fit. Levi scowled.

"You look like you're in quite the jam." said Levi. The boy just nodded. Levi gave the boy a once-over and sighed, knowing he was going to regret what he was about to do. Curse his soft heart.

"Drink." he said, throwing his water skin at the boy. The boy flinched. Then, he reached for it, only to flinch again when he held it. Those burns were pretty serious. Hanji could probably help take care of those... But what did he care? It was just some random kid he had found. It was just some random kid, but when he thought of leaving him alone, he felt guilty. Guilty!

"Fuck," he muttered. He dismounted his horse and grabbed the water skin, holding it to the brunette's lips. Or, he thought the boy was a brunette. There was so much ash in his hair, it was impossible to tell. The boy drank greedily, almost taking it all before Levi pulled it back and stood up straight. Hopefully, he would be able to talk now.

"What's your name?" asked Levi, holding back a scowl.

"Eren." the kid croaked. His voice didn't crack this time. The area under his bottom lip had been cleaned by the excess water that dribbled down his face. The kid was a wreck.

"Eren." said Levi. "Do you know what happened here?" he asked it cautiously. Of course the kid didn't know. How could he possibly know?

"Uh," Eren started oh-so-cleverly, "Some guys burned down my home?"

Levi scoffed. "Obviously."

"I..." Eren tried to put his thoughts together. "I saw them. A few of them. They were shooting flaming arrows. I don't remember what they were wearing. I remember seeing a lot of people die. Um..."

"And...?" Levi prompted. He was relieved to hear that he didn't know who did it.

"I don't remember." Eren said, a look of mild shock on his face.

"Your mind is blocking out the memory?" asked Levi. Eren only nodded.

"Who are you?" asked Eren.

"No, I don't think I'll tell you." said Levi. "It's too dangerous." Eren just raised his eyebrow.

"What have I got to lose?"

Levi considered for a moment before sighing.

"Levi." he said reluctantly, "You should clean those wounds before you die." WIith that, he mounted his horse (Eren wondered how someone so short could mount such a tall horse) and rode away.

Eren forced himself to stand, ignoring the sharp pains that shot through his body. His knees shook and Eren clutched the tree for support. When he felt strong enough, he took a step. Then another. Ignoring the pain, he walked to where the closest river was and stripped down. If he was going to wash, he might as well wash his whole body. He closed his eyes, counted to three, and slid in.

"Fuck," Eren hissed. The water stung, but he knew it was good. Well, hoped it was good. Potentially bathing in acids left from the dead bodies was nothing compared to the pain he would go through if the burns got infected. Or was it?

"Too late now," Eren sighed as he submerged his face in the water. He was already starting to feel better. He could practically feel the water healing his burns...

He lifted his hand. It was already starting to repair itself. And not in the "Wow, this water makes it _feel_ all better!" No, the third-degree burns were now just second-degree burns, going on first. Eren's eyes widened and he let out a shuttering breath. This would have to be a secret. A big, big secret. God knows what would happen if he told somebody.

Eren stayed in the water for a while longer, cleaning the ash off his skin and hair and thanking various water gods. As soon as he was confident that he had cleaned most of the water off, he got out and quickly redressed.

He had no idea where to go. His injuries were healing themselves, but he was still sore. What money he might have had was with Grisha, and who knew where he was. Mikasa was also out there, along with Armin and Jean. Maybe if he searched for them...

With nothing else to do, he set out on his long and tedious walk. That was a mistake. But wasn't everything?

* * *

 

The sun was setting. Levi squinted at it, wondering where he should sleep. He didn't want to get killed, so it probably wasn't a good idea to sleep out in the open. Recently, Levi had gained a few new enemies. Friends and family of people he had been paid to kill. People who lived around here.

Levi decided to head toward town. Now, if only he knew where a town was. The one he was going to stay in had been burned to a crisp by those no-good Titans.

Why didn't he want Eren to know, you ask? Well, he would probably try to kill all the Titans. They were a dangerous opponent, and Levi did have a heart.

He started toward where he though the next village over was, but came across another sight altogether. Eren was being held by his arms by one of the Titans, a female with a nose. There were two others there, one was tall and sweaty and the other was stocky and blonde.

But that wasn't what surprised Levi the most. What surprised him the most was the fact that _all of Eren's burns were gone_. Every single one. And all cleaned up like that, Levi couldn't help but admit that he was attractive.

"How did you escape?" asked the stocky one. Eren shook his head and refused to answer.

"He's the only reason we burned it..." the sweaty one said quietly, quietly enough that Eren couldn't hear.

"Fuck it," said the stocky one, balling his hand into a fist and pulling it back. Eren braced himsel, squeezing his eyes shut.

The blow never came. Eren looked up to find Levi, standing in between him and the two guys. He had grabbed the blonde one's fist and was now shoving it away. He quickly grabbed Eren and wrenched him out of the girl's grip, running before the three could react.

After Levi had put some distance between them, he stopped. Eren jumped off his horse (which he had gotten on before leaving) and stared.

"Um, Levi..." Eren looked down. Levi raised his eyebrow.

"What?"

"Thanks." he said with a smile. Levi was taken aback.

"You're welcome." he said. "Where are you going to stay?" he added as an afterthought.

"Who knows." said Eren, already turning to leave. Levi hesitated. Was he really about to do what he thought he was going to do?

"Oi," he started, none too kindly, "Brat. Listen. I'm an assassin, if you believe me. I might be in need of an assistant. If you promise to keep your mouth shut and not get in the way, I'll let you come with me. No questions, no whining, no fucking things up."

Eren stared. Was he really offering to take Eren with him? If he went with Levi, he would probably find Mikasa and the others a lot quicker.

"Yes." said Eren. "I'll come with you."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you like it, let me know!
> 
> I wasn't sure where to cut this off, so a lot happened?
> 
> Also, how do I get rid of that second note underneath this one? It's the one from the first chapter, but why


	3. Intoducing Doctor Hanji

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Eren and Levi visit Hanji for a physical exam

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I rewrote this chapter so many times, so I hope it's okay.
> 
> The time period in this fic is whatever the hell I feel like writing.

Levi honestly had no idea what was going through his mind when he decided to let Eren tag along. He was headed to Hanji's place now, but this was already seeming like a bad idea. How the hell was he planning on taking care of a teenager? One with such a weird healing ability, at that.

He sighed. There was no turning back now. Eren's arms were wrapped around his waist tightly in order to avoid falling off. Eren himself looked bored and tired. He was nodding off, his head hitting Levi's back almost periodically. Each time, Eren would jerk up and almost lose his balance.

"Don't go falling asleep on me. We're almost there." said Levi. Eren immediately sat up straight. Levi rolled his eyes. This kid was eager to please. That meant he would follow orders well.

When they reached Hanji's house, Eren was nodding off again. Levi got off the horse without warning, throwing Eren off balance. Eren just barely managed to catch himself before landing flat on the ground.

Levi knocked on Hanji's door three times. She opened it immediately, an excited grin on her face.

"I saw you through my window!" she said. "You haven't visited me in months!"

"I was busy." said Levi, looking away for a second to catch Eren's eye. The brunette walked up to them. "This is Eren."

"Hi, Eren!" Hanji smiled, but her smile was that of a confused Hanji. "Um, if you don't mind my asking, what are you doing here?"

"My village..." Eren looked at Levi as if asking permission to speak. Levi gave a slight nod. "It was burned down. I don't really remember the details, but somehow I escaped. I had very severe burns, and Levi was riding by on his horse. That's where we met. He told me to bathe in the river. And I did. And when i did..."

Eren looked at Levi for permission again. With a bit of annoyance, Levi nodded.

"My skin healed. Almost completely." Eren finished. He didn't tell Hanji about the three Titans. Levi would have to tell her himself later.

"Was it the water?" Hani asked Levi, her eyes filling with excitement.

"No." Levi shook his head. "The water was completely normal."

"So it was Eren," she gave Eren a strange look. "Come in!" Hanji threw open the door and walked inside her house, followed by Levi. Eren walked in a few minutes later, but he was hesitant about going into a stranger's house. But if Levi thought it was okay...

"Okay!" Hanji spun around and smiled at Eren. "Can you please take your shirt off?"

"What?" Eren sputtered. A blush rose on his cheeks and Levi rolled his eyes for what must have been the seventh time that day.

"I need to see where you were burned." Hanji explained. She was already starting to take on that scientific glow she got when she was interested in something.

Timidly, Eren took off his shirt. At least his body was decent after all those years of hard work. Working in the fields will build some muscle, that's for sure.

Hanji circled Eren, poking and prodding at the almost perfectly healed skin. A few nasty bruises remained that were now turning bluish-yellow, that hideous three-day-old bruise color. Except Eren had only received those bruises a few hours ago.

"Interesting..." Hanji murmured, her eyes sparkling. She ordered Eren to lift one arm, then the other, nodding to herself and mumbling every once in a while. Eren felt very... exposed.

"Shitty glasses," Levi said, "I need some more herbs."

"What, you've used them all already?" Hanji huffed, momentarily directing her attention away from Eren.

"I had a lot of poisons to make." Levi shrugged.

"Lucky for you, I just harvested some more." said Hanji. Then, her eyes widened. "Oh, right! Speaking of harvesting, it's almost time for dinner!"

At the mention of food, Eren's stomach growled. He blushed and grabbed his stomach, desperately trying to get it to shut up. Hanji laughed.

"Eren! Are you hungry?" said said with a smile.

"Yeah," Eren admitted with a shy smile and a slight blush dusting his cheeks.

"You're so cute!" Hanji squealed. "Let's make a deal. If you harvest the food, I'll let you and Levi say for dinner." Eren's eyes widened with excitement. This would be his first proper meal in god knows how long. He nodded.

"Great!" Hanji flashed another huge grin. "Go out back and get whatever looks right." Eren nodded happily and left. Hanji's bubbly mood mellowed almost immediately.

"Levi, taking on an apprentice?" asked Hanji. "I know you wouldn't take someone on unless you had a good reason."

"That boy was covered in serious burns just a few hours ago. Isn't that reason enough?" Levi snapped.

"About that," Hanji said, "That's not normal."

"I know it's not normal." said Levi. He rolled his eyes again.

"He's a special one, that's for sure." she said, looking in the direction Eren had gone.

"He's the reason his village was burned, apparently." Levi said casually, but it was anything but casual.

"Do you know why?" asked Hanij.

"Not a clue. It's probably something to do with that healing thing he does." said Levi, plopping himself down in one of the chairs at Hanji's table.

"You need to keep that a secret." said Hanji. "I'm glad you told me, but don't tell anyone else."

"I'm not stupid, shitty glasses." said Levi. "I want to know what's up with him."

"I'll tell you what," said Hanji, "You guys stay here for the night. I'll take a sample of Eren's blood while he sleeps. Once I;m done testing it, I'll send a messenger to find you." Levi nodded.

"That sounds good," said Levi.

"And we'll have to see what we can do about that memory loss tomorrow. I think I have this one thing..." Hanji trailed off and started muttering to herself.

"I have the food!" Eren yelled through the door. His voice was muffled, but Levi could still understand him.

"I'm coming," Levi grumbled when Hanji didn't move from her thinking position in the kitchen. He opened the door to reveal a vegetable bearing Eren. His arms were full of potatoes and carrots and all sorts of good stuff.

"Wow, Eren!" Hanji reverted back to her carefree tone as she noticed him. "We're going to have a feast tonight!"

While Hanji started a fire in her fire pit, huumming ot herself, Eren sat down next to Levi.

"So, poisons?" he asked.

"Yeah." said Levi. "It's a way of assassination. You can poison someone's drink and watch them die from afar. It's much less messy than stabbing someone and easy to do in a crowded place."

Eren whistled. "And you make them yourself?"

"Yes, unless I have Hanji do them. I like to do them myself so I know nothing goes wrong." Levi replied.

"Would you let me make poison, someday?" asked Eren. The question had Levi taken aback. This innocent kid, making poison? He quickly composed himself.

"Maybe." Levi said curtly.

"How often do you do that? Poison people, that is."

"More often than I should, probably." said Levi. "Poison can be good, but you can't kill too many people in public places. Don't want to scar anybody."

Eren didn't think that reasoning was very solid, but he let it go without a word. Levi was the expert, after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, so I hope it didn't end too abruptly. I felt like cutting it off there would be okay.  
> This chapter's also kind of short, but oh well.


	4. Eren Has PTSD

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Eren remembers and he can't read worth a damn.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ha ha, late chapter, but I stopped in the middle of working on it to do homework.
> 
> This chapter introduces an Illiterate!Eren.

True to her word, Hanji extracted some of Eren's blood that night. Preforming tests on it would take a while, but she knew they would be worth it. Eren was a scientific gold mine.

She put the blood away safely and fell back onto her bed, sighing. Eren and Levi were sleeping on her floor. She felt a little bit bad for them, but it wasn't like she was rich enough to afford extra beds. Even if she _did_ have that kind of money, there was no way she would waste it on something so mundane as guest beds.

She glanced at the two sleeping males. Levi was scowling in his sleep. Of course. Eren, however, looked relaxed and peaceful.

Eren. Hanji knew that there was a reason other than Eren's healing abilities for taking him along. Levi didn't like people. As far as she knew, she and Irwin were Levi's only friends, and she was lucky if he came over more than once a month. True, Eren was cute, but Levi had never been a sucker for a cute face. If he was, he would give in to Hanji _much_ more often, right?

* * *

 

Eren woke up with a kick to his side.

"Get up." Levi said in monotone. Eren groaned and sat up, stretching.

"Let's see about those memories." said Hanji. She was holding a bowl of some very pungent mixed herbs.

"Fine," Eren said, yawning. The yawn was contagious. Levi and Hanji both yawned after him.

"Now," Hanji started, pulling a chair into the middle of the room. "Can you sit down?"

Eren sat.

"Good!" Hanji beamed like she was praising him for some huge thing. "Now, close your eyes and think back. Tell me what happened."

Hanji held the bowl under Eren's nose as he thought. The smell was almost suffocating. But if Hanji was doing it, there must have been some sort of purpose.

"I... I was talking to Jean. He was smitten with some freckles guy. Then, I saw the arrows. Flaming arrows. They hit houses and grass, and caught everything on fire. People were dropping like flies. Then, I went to go find my mom..." Eren stopped, a sharp pain running through his head.

"A repressed memory." said Hanji. She held the bowl closer to Eren's nose. "Think. What happened after that?"

Eren could barely breathe. He breathed in and out, slowly, before starting again.

"I saw Jean and... someone... leaving. I got to my house and..." Images ran through Eren's head. Bright red flames, charred black wood, the smell of singed hair...

"My mother-" he choked out. Hanji furrowed her eyebrows. "She died. Right in my arms. She was crushed by our house."

Tears fell down Eren's face. Hanji pulled back, feeling a wave of guilt wash over her. Levi stared apathetically. "I'm sorry, Eren." she whispered, pulling him into a hug. Eren let her hug him, knowing that there was a growing wet spot on her shirt now.

Levi, on the other hand, was feeling little sympathy. Things happen, people die. He would have to teach the brat not to get attached again.

As soon as Eren stopped crying, Levi turned toward the door.

"Time to leave." he said.

"Why?" asked Eren. His eyes and nose were swollen from crying.

"Because I have things to do." said Levi impatiently. "Just come on."

Without any more words, Eren followed Levi outside. Hanji waved from the door, with a smile that wasn't a smile. Eren jumped onto the horse after Levi and was silent for the entire ride, enjoying the warmth radiating from the older man.

They stopped at a small town that was bustling with people. The streets were crowded, and Levi huffed in annoyance before dismounting at an inn. He handed the reins to Eren.

"Hold the horse while I get a room." he said. Eren nodded.

While Levi was gone, Eren looked around. The town was fairly clean. Everyone who bumped into him apologized except for two. People were lugging around fodder, wheat, vegetables, fruits, you name it. Just watching them pass by made Eren's mouth water. He was hungry.

"Oi," Levi said from behind him. Eren jumped and turned. "Go buy these things while I take Horsie to the stable."

Levi handed Eren a peice of paper and some gold, then turned to walk away.

"But-" started Eren. Levi swiveled around.

"But?" asked Levi, slightly amused.

"Nothing." Eren looked away. Levi scoffed and walked away.

Eren wandered through town, looking for somewhere to buy things. Back where he was from, you either grew your own food or you worked for it. He had never even thought that you could buy it with gold. Gold bought houses and blankets and clothes, not food.

"Excuse me..." he said to a man in front of what he assumed was a vegetable stand. "Uh, sorry, but can you read this?"

Eren handed the man the paper. With a wary glance, the man took it.

"Can't you read?" he mused while his eyes grazed the paper. Eren's cheeks flushed.

"No, actually." he said, his face burning with shame.

"Hmph," the man sighed. "I have what you need."

Instead of telling Eren what the list said, the man took out all that it said he would need. Eren could count, however, so he counted to make sure the man hadn't given him more than what was written on the list.

"That'll be five gold." said the man, holding out his hand. Eren counted the vegetables once more before nodding and giving the man the money.

As he walked back to the inn, he couldn't help but wonder why they hadn't taken any food from Hanji.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I actually have no clue what Levi's horse's name is.


End file.
